One More Dance
by The Unknown Warrior 11
Summary: Chie has agreed to attend Yasogami High's Western-style Formal, and Yu holds her to one special promise before she is allowed to leave. Yu/Chie centric


**Author's Note:** Once again, I find myself posting what I thought was going to be a fairly short drabble. You'll see that this is not the case. This is, in fact, the longest single piece of fiction I've ever written. I've done chaptered stuff that amounts to longer, but this one continuous piece breaks my previous records. I'm going to take a quick moment to celebrate.

*General Celebration Noises*

Aaand we're back. Sorry about that. Like I said, this one started its life as a drabble, but very quickly became significantly more than that. I really do hope you enjoy it, and I really hope it's up to snuff. Since I've never written anything this long, I'm terrified that it won't be up to par. I hope it is. Without further delay, I give you **One More Dance**. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Persona 4 and all of its attributes are the property of Atlus. This piece is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

"Oh no..." Chie moaned, clutching her best friends arm in horror.

"What now?" Yukiko asked, skillfully hiding the hint of exasperation she had felt edging into her voice over the past few hours.

Chie was examining the garment laid out on the table.

"It's..." she was struggling for words. "...poufy."

Yukiko fought to contain the snort of laughter she felt coming, to no avail.

Rise rolled her eyes.

"Of course it's poufy," she said, "It's a western style dress. They only come in two varieties."

Chie looked to the teen idol.

"Poufy and... non-existent?"

Rise looked confused.

"No, poufy and sleek. Like the last one you said no to. Like _all_ of the dresses you've said no to. When we asked you to come to the school's Western-style formal the other day, you said you would come. That means you _have_ to pick out a dress."

"I-I said yes before I knew what it was!"

Naoto looked up from the magazine she was browsing through.

"My apologies, Chie-senpai, but when Yukiko-senpai and Rise-chan asked you to come with us, they very clearly stated the occasion." Chie shot an icy glare at the detective prodigy. Naoto gave her a small apologetic smile as condolence.

"Fine, maybe I knew what it was, but that doesn't mean I knew what I was getting into."

Naoto began to point out her contradiction, before Rise stepped between the two of them.

"No more excuses! We've been shopping all day, and you know how much I love shopping, so you know how serious I am when I say this: I. Want. To. Go. Home. I am tired, and my feet are killing me."

Chie perked up at the thought of leaving the store.

"Home! That's fine by me, let's just-"

"NO!" Rise all but screeched.

All three of her friends stopped to stare at her.

"Senpai is coming back this weekend and the guys have already gotten permission from the school for him to attend, Yukiko, Naoto and I have already picked our dresses, the formal is only a few days away meaning you're running out of time and I've got my florist standing by to make sure we each get an awesome corsage that matches our dresses. I am not leaving until you Pick. Your. Dress!"

The three girls shared an almost telepathic thought: that Rise-chan had never fought alongside them in one of her angrier states was the only kindness they had ever given their shadowy foes in the Midnight Channel. Her wrath would have caused even Amano-sagiri to tremble in fear.

Yukiko sensed the tension in the room and quickly interjected.

"Chie-chan, are you sure about this one? It's really cute."

Chie looked it over again, and sat down on the empty bench she had been using.

"I don't want to be 'cute,'" she said, in a small voice.

It was the turn of Yukiko, Rise and Naoto to share a look. Chie continued.

"Look... I know I'm not like you guys. I mean... I'm not as... attractive... as you..." Chie began absentmindedly examining her hands.

"You each picked such nice dresses... I mean, you were all born to be in dresses. Me, I... I'm most comfy in sweats, you know?" Chie looked up from her seat at her friends.

"I don't want to look cute. I don't want a dress that's quite so... poufy. B-but the other dresses are so..." She scrunched up her nose as she cast about for the word.

"Small?" Offered Yukiko.

"Sexy?" Offered Rise.

"Impractical." Naoto stated calmly. Yukiko and Rise turned to stare at her. She shrugged.

"Just because I agreed to wear one does not mean I'm entirely comfortable with it."

Chie hung her head.

"All of that. O-or... none of that? I dunno... I just..." She looked back to her friends, all of whom saw the fire burning in her eyes.

"I don't want the first thing he thinks when he sees me to be 'cute,' you know?"

They stood in silence as Chie absentmindedly wiped at one of her eyes. The silence continued as Naoto stood from her seat and walked over to the row of dresses that Chie had already ruled out. She shuffled through the rack for a moment before pulling a dress off and bringing it over to Chie.

"This one." she said. Chie looked up, examining the dress Naoto held in her hands. It was a deep, rich purple colour made from a fabric that seemed to shimmer in the light of the room.

"T-that one? B-but..." Naoto interrupted.

"It's one you already said no to, but hear me out. It's not a colour you usually wear, meaning that Narukami-senpai won't immediately associate it with anything else you've worn, giving you the best chance of an acceptable impression. It's not as frilly as the one you just rejected, which was out of the question because, and I agree with you, it was far too 'girly' and the extra volume would conjure images of any number of fairytale princesses' gowns. But, neither is it as revealing as some of the other dresses you disliked."

Chie stared at Naoto, mouth slightly agape.

"H-how did you..."

"I knew you disliked those dresses for being too revealing because every time a dress was chosen that featured a cut any lower than two or three inches below your clavicle, you subconsciously reached up and touched your neck or shoulder. That, and just knowing the person you are, suggested to me that you weren't comfortable with the amount of skin those dresses would have shown off."

Naoto leaned in towards Chie and offered, in a whisper only the two of them shared,

"And I don't entirely blame you."

She pulled away, offering Chie a wry smile.

"So, factoring in all of the issues at hand, I came to the conclusion that this would be the best of all worlds. It is more sleek than the average dress, giving a chance to highlight your quite stunning physique, it reveals just enough skin to separate it from the realm of dresses that would cause you to seem younger and it makes quite sure anyone who sees you will not think you 'cute.' It's also much cheaper most Yukiko-senpai and Rise-chan have picked out for you."

Naoto, having left the dress on Chie's lap, crossed back over and sat on her bench, picking up the magazine she had been reading and opening it back to her page.

"Plus..."

Naoto looked up and gave Chie a genuine smile.

"You will look amazing in it."

More silence as Chie blushed a deep red. Yukiko and Rise stood staring at Naoto in awe. They leaned towards each other, whispering conspiratorially.

"It's always so weird when she does her detective thing." Yukiko said.

"Weird? It creeps me out." Rise countered.

Chie sat, mesmerized by the dress that seemed to dance and shift in her hands. It was very soft, she could feel, but it also felt... strong, somehow. She wasn't sure if fabric could do that, feel strong, but this stuff, this dress, did.

"This one..." she murmured to herself, casting her eyes up and down the length of it, feeling the blush that was on her face. She smiled as she came to her decision.

"This one."

* * *

"Dude, what's taking you so long in there?" Yosuke shouted into his bathroom.

He, Kanji and Teddie had been hanging out at Yosuke's house on the afternoon of the school's Western-style formal, mostly just for the sake of friendship, but also because both Kanji and Yosuke were terrified of showing up to the event alone. Neither of them had said as much, but when Kanji had sought Yosuke out a few days before, the conversation had been brief, and awkward.

"Hey, uhh... senpai." Kanji had started.

"Kanji, hey. What's up?"

"Not much, not much. Uhh... hey, you, uhh... you going to that formal thing?"

Yosuke had nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Uhh.. you gonna go?"

Kanji had rubbed the back of his neck.

"I guess so, I mean, Narukami-senpai's gonna be coming down that week, right? We could probably all go together."

Yosuke nodded again.

"Yeah. No sense in not going together, right? I mean, we can all hang out before and..."

"And show up together! Yeah man, that's... yeah."

Both Kanji and Yosuke had stood for a moment in awkward silence, before remembered pressing errands they had both forgotten to do, agreeing to meet up the next day to ask permission from the faculty for Yu Narukami to attend the formal as a guest.

After that day, it had only been a matter of time before Teddie had caught wind of the event, and now here they all were, the afternoon of the school formal, where Yosuke was shouting into his own bathroom at Teddie, who had entered nearly a half hour before and who had made no sound since. To say Yosuke was worried was an understatement. He began pounding on the bathroom door.

Behind him, seated on Yosuke's couch, Kanji fidgeted uncomfortably in his rented tuxedo.

"How do people wear these things, man?" Kanji was pulling at his sleeves and shifting his tie back and forth. "It feels like a prison."

Yosuke stopped mid-pound and turned to face Kanji.

"Have you ever been in jail?"

Kanji turned red.

"N-not really... I mean, once or twice they put me in a holding cell for a bit... b-but I swear, I never did anything!"

Yosuke chuckled.

"Fair enough, dude. I'm not judging. Just curious."

He paused to think.

"Actually, if you had gone to jail, I'd hire you right now to kill this stupid bear." He began pounding on the door again.

"Teddie! What the hell are you doing in there! Come on, I gotta use the bathroom!"

"Couldn't you just use the other one? The one downstairs?" Kanji asked.

Yosuke gave up on the door and dropped down onto the couch beside Kanji.

"It's the principle of the thing. A man should never be forced out of his own bathroom by a freaky bear thing."

He tugged at his own sleeve.

"It's unnatural."

Kanji nodded in agreement, still fiddling with his tie. After a few moments, he pulled it off completely, letting it fall to the floor.

"Ugh, I feel so much better without that thing."

"It's a formal, you can't show up without a tie." He reached to his own neck, which sported a velvety bow tie.

"You should have gone with one of these. Bow ties are-"

"No." Kanji interrupted. "They're not."

Yosuke deflated a bit.

"Whatever, you're just jealous."

"Doubtful, man," Kanji replied, picking up his tie and awkwardly tying it back around his neck.

"Doubtful."

* * *

Yu Narukami couldn't help but be impressed by the transformation that the school's gym had undergone for this formal. The entire place sparkled in a way he hadn't been sure the old place was really capable of. It had also been given a makeover that Yu wasn't sure he really understood. There were multi-coloured streamers hung from the ceiling and strange 6 foot tall geometric shapes made from paper on the floor and what looked like a disco ball hanging in the centre of the room and Yu was suddenly very sure that whoever had been in charge of decoration had no idea what a western-style formal was supposed to be. Granted, neither did he, but he would have at the very least kept the disco ball securely tucked away.

He had been picked up at the train station by Yosuke, Kanji and a lanky human Teddie, who beyond all reason was decked out from head to toe in what could only be described as a garishly sequined white tuxedo. Kanji and Yosuke were making a point of standing a good distance away from Teddie, even as they were waiting for him to come off the train. Yu had managed only a few steps towards them when his brain had properly registered just what Teddie was wearing, and the last words to run through his mind before he nearly collapsed from laughter was:

Top hat.

He still wasn't sure where Teddie had managed to find a sequined top hat, and he had spent most of the ride to the school brainstorming with Yosuke and Kanji. He learned from the two of them that Teddie had barricaded himself in Yosuke's bathroom until just before they had been scheduled to leave to pick him up. Teddie had done this on purpose, Yosuke grumbled in the car, so that there wasn't enough time to make him change before they had had to leave. Yosuke was as upset as he was because he had footed the rental for what he had assumed to be a standard tuxedo, and the sequined white tux explained just why the rental bill had been so high. Kanji had seemed to be enjoying himself, alternating between staring at the sequins on Teddie's vest and pointedly staring at Yosuke, who was becoming more and more miserable by the moment. Yu had managed to lighten the mood by telling them some stories from back at home until they had made it to the school.

Now the evening had arrived, and both the school and Teddie were in top, though not necessarily appropriate, shape. There were enough students already arrived to classify the event as a success, though Yu noticed more than one confused glance shared between couples and groups of friends.

Speaking of couples and groups of friends, Yu had yet to see the girls of the Investigative Team or his girlfriend, who he had been assured would be attending. Yu had been surprised to learn from Yukiko and Rise that Chie had actually agreed to come, and even though no one said it, he knew that it hadn't been something she was incredibly comfortable agreeing to. He also knew that a western style dress would have been something she most decidedly did not own, and would have entailed an excursion dress shopping and he had best stop that train of thought right there because the only outcome he could imagine was disaster. Chie did not shop for clothing well. Not that she couldn't do it, it's that it was never exactly easy for her. He was almost dreading what Yukiko and Rise would have forced upon her as an acceptable dress for the night. They had good intentions, they always did, but sometimes they could be a bit... misguided. He found himself hoping that Naoto had gone with them, if only to serve as some kind of mediator if the necessity had arisen.

He entered the gymnasium proper, where by now music had begun to play, both English and Japanese songs, and headed over to the tables set up along the far wall. Several different plates of bite-sized foods had been arranged along the length of the impromptu bar, with a large bowl in the middle that had been filled with an unidentifiable liquid Yu assumed was punch, but in the dimly lit, occasionally sparkling room he wasn't entirely sure. He watched Kanji pour himself a glass and waited for him to take a drink. When he did not immediately keel over or react in any negative way, Yu decided that it was safe enough to pour himself a glass, grabbing a tiny hot dog on a stick as he passed by a tray of them. He couldn't say for sure this was acceptable formal food, but Westerners had some strange ideas sometimes. Tiny hot dogs might have been expected at these kinds of events.

Now that the party was in full swing, Yu wandered about with Yosuke, being occasionally pulled aside by the friends he had made while in Inaba. Kou and Daisuke had both looked incredibly uncomfortable in their rented tuxes, and Yu couldn't blame them. He knew Daisuke was usually only ever in his track suit. He pulled off the tux well, and Yu said as much, though that only seemed to make him more uncomfortable, much to Kou's amusement. Teddie was running about the gym at full speed, stopping at groups of girls for moments at a time before moving on to another group. Yu could only assume that he was striking out at each group, but he was always astounded that Teddie could take the harshest of rejections and never even blink. He'd smile a big goofy smile and dart off. He had a mind that Teddie would be somewhat more successful in his bear form, but that would bring about a whole new set of problems, none of them small.

Yu hadn't been paying much attention to the entrance until Yosuke elbowed him in the side. Hard. He turned towards his friend, clutching his ribs and noticed the pointed look he was giving the gym doors. Yu followed his gaze and felt his jaw drop open, just a little.

The girls of the Investigative Team had made their entrance, Yukiko and Rise in the lead, escorting each other arm in arm into the filling gym, and giggling madly together. They were clearly enjoying the set-up of the gym, and Yu wondered if they might also be enjoying the attention that was being thrown their way. Several boys in the gym had stopped what they were doing completely and were watching them. A few of those same boys' dates had stopped too, but that was mostly to drag their date to different locations in the room, hoping to shake them from their trance-like state. Behind Yukiko and Rise was Naoto, who hadn't drawn as many stares as her friends, but that was almost entirely because nobody was quite sure if they knew her. Naoto in a dress was so unlike her day-to-day self that Yu himself had almost not recognized her. She was blushing slightly before she noticed the group of Yu, Yosuke and Kanji were looking their way. That caused her to stop in her tracks, and wobble slightly, before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued on, calmed and stable. Yu, however, who had quickly noticed each of his friends, had more or less looked straight past the girls as they came in, noticing a figure who was hugging the doorway with an unmatchable ferocity. Yu didn't need to be told who that was.

Rise had turned in her tracks and shouted something towards the door, but the gym had returned to its former state and her words were lost in the din of the crowd. Yu excused himself from the group, which by this point contained Teddie and Naoto as well, with Yukiko giving him a smile as he passed her by. He came up on Rise just as she had finished another bout of yelling. He heard a feeble voice shout back.

"No! I can't! I'm not going out there like this!"

Rise drew breath to shout again, but Yu laid a hand on her shoulder. Rise gave an involuntary yelp, and whirled to face her assailant. She relaxed when she noticed it was only Yu, who held a finger to his lips in a 'shush' gesture. Rise nodded, and threw a thumb over her shoulder towards the door, followed by a shrug of her shoulders. Yu nodded and pointed towards their group of friends.

"I'll take care of this." he said. Rise smiled, gave him a tiny whirl in her dress to show it off and then headed off towards them.

Yu slowly walked over to the door, listening for any more protests from his girlfriend. He knew she would be hiding just on the other side of the open doors, which opened outwards from the gym into the hallway, creating a tiny little box against the wall. Nobody would be able to see her in there. He waited until she shouted again, still not as loud as the interior of the impromptu dance hall.

"Rise-chan? Did you hear me?" she paused.

"What are you up to? I told you, I'm not coming out, I can't do it!."

Yu heard the tremor of fear in her voice, completely unlike her. She had gone up against monsters and demons and terrors of all shapes and sizes, and yet the idea of being in a dress scared her this much. Yu smiled in spite of himself. He needed to get that under control. Approach this the wrong way, he knew, and she really would never come out.

Chie's voice came again.

"R-Rise-chan?"

Yu answered.

"Rise's gone in already, is there anything I can help you with?"

He heard a small yelp from behind the door.

"Y-Yu! What are- I mean... what's... umm..."

She seemed honestly lost for words.

"I can't do this. I'm not supposed to be in a dress. I thought I could but..."

Yu waited for her to finish.

"I'm not like them."

Yu felt himself nodding.

"No, you're right. You're not like them," he said.

"That is, of course, why I love _you_, and not them."

Chie's voice came from the door, small and timid.

"R-really?"

"Of course," he said, "You know that."

"Y-yeah... I do... I just... I thought if you saw me in a dress... I-I mean, compared to them... You'd... I dunno... stop?"

Yu smiled in spite of himself.

"That's ridiculous."

"I'm in a dress! This is a night of ridiculous, cut me some slack."

Yu laughed at that, and he heard Chie laughing too, and he knew she was ok.

"Can I come back there and visit?" he asked. Chie replied quickly.

"N-no! I mean... no, I'm coming in."

Chie rounded the corner, and Yu found himself unable to breathe. Her dress was more modest than the other girls, but in spite of it, or maybe because of it, it fit her perfectly, and the deep purple fabric seemed to shimmer and move in the lights of the gymnasium even as she stood still. It was so unlike anything he had ever seen her in that for a moment his brain couldn't put the picture of her together. She seemed to exist in two places in his mind, the Chie he knew and this brand new Chie, and words wouldn't come. She was blushing furiously, unable to meet his eyes. Yu's silence must have gone on a touch too long for her liking however, as she soon looked at him, concern crossing her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Dread crept into her voice. "I'm not... cute, am I?"

Before Yu had the chance to reply, Chie spoke again.

"I knew it, I told them I shouldn't be in a dress, I'd just come off as cute and I don't want to be cute and-"

Yu found his tongue again and cut her off.

"No, no it's not..." Chie stopped and looked at him.

He smiled at her.

"You look incredible."

He wouldn't have thought it was possible, but Chie's blush deepened. She started to turn to hide her face, but Yu reached out and took her hand, pulling her in close. They stayed like that for a moment, not in any embrace but just drinking in their shared proximity. After a moment, Yu stepped back and began to pull Chie deeper into the gym, but she stood fast and pulled against him.

"No! Wait!"

Yu turned back to her.

"I-I... I dunno..."

Yu thought for a moment. A slower song began to play in the background. Inspiration struck.

"Ok. How about this? One dance." he held out a finger, wagging it in the air to emphasize his point.

"Dance with me for one song, and if you still don't want to be here, we can leave."

Chie's eyes widened.

"Really? But, the guys... you just-"

"Yeah, but you're more important to me, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable, so if after one dance you still want to leave, we'll go together. Dojima and Nanako are out of town this weekend, and I brought some movies we can watch instead." He smiled at her. Chie smiled, a small tentative smile.

"O-ok..."

He led her in to the gym.

There were several couples already up and dancing hand in hand on the dance floor. Rise seemed to have literally pulled Yosuke with her out into the crowd, apparently recognizing the song, which was in English, Yu noticed. Yosuke seemed to have never danced before, as Rise was doing most of the work, placing one of his hands on her hip and taking the other in her hand. As they began to dance, Yosuke caught his eye and shot him a wink. He wasn't as clueless as Rise thought, apparently. Yu also noticed that Teddie had managed to convince Yukiko to dance with him, and to both of their surprise, he was quite good. Not only that, but he seemed to be keeping his more wild urges in check, never letting his hand stray from her side. He noticed Yu was watching them, and, giving a sly smile to Yu, stepped away from Yukiko, still holding her hand, and spun her deftly. Yukiko let out a small scream and began to laugh in surprise. Teddie smiled and resumed the dance.

Yu looked around, trying to spot Kanji or Naoto and saw them both sitting near the food table. They were engaged in a lively discussion, with Kanji telling her some kind of wild tale, aggressively gesturing with his hands, while Naoto sat and listened. She spoke occasionally, and when she noticed Yu looking at them she blushed slightly and gave him a little wave. This pulled Kanji's attention towards Yu, and he blushed in kind. Neither one of them were going to dance, and no one was approaching them either, but Yu had a feeling that this was exactly the way they preferred it, and smiled back at them.

Reaching a suitable spot on the dance floor, not right in the centre but not hidden next to a wall or behind one of the odd towering paper shapes, Yu pulled Chie close and began to slowly move. She was stiff in his arms at first, holding her hand out awkwardly in his, and he felt her almost painful grip on his shoulder, but after a moment, sensing that no one was paying them any attention at all, she relaxed and moved in, resting her head against his chest. He wrapped his arm a little tighter around her waist and the two of them moved in a slow unison while the music played on.

Yu was sure he had never heard the song they were dancing to before, and made a small mental note to ask Rise-chan about it afterwards. It was a quiet song, with a deep resonating bass line that had set the pace for the dancers, and a striking melodic guitar that took turns with the vocalist to create an intensely relaxing atmosphere.

After a few moments like this, the two of them enjoying each other's company and swaying in time with the music, Chie moved in Yu's arm to look up at him.

"Promise I'm not cute?" she asked.

Yu had no idea what that was about, and thought she was, in fact, adorable, but he knew the answer she was looking for.

"I promise."

Chie smiled at him and stood up on her tiptoes for a moment to give him a quick kiss. She then settled back against his chest.

"Good." she said.

Before too long, and long before either of them was ready, the song ended, and the dancing couples broke apart. Chie slowly stepped back from Yu, taking one of his hands as he began to walk towards where Kanji and Naoto were sitting. There was a meaty _ thwack_ from their right, and turning to investigate the noise they saw that Teddie was sporting a brand new, very sore looking red handprint on his face. A very Yukiko-like handprint. Yu was impressed that Teddie had held out the entire song, but it seemed his urges were just too strong for him to ignore forever. He was getting better though, or so he told himself. Yukiko, by that point, had began walking towards the same destination Yu and Chie had chosen. As the three of them arrived with Yosuke and Rise (Teddie already back on his feet and back to darting between groups of girls in his dazzling white tuxedo) and sat among Kanji and Naoto, Yu noticed Rise sitting very close to Yosuke. He managed to catch Yosuke's eye and send him a wink of his own. Yosuke blushed and smiled.

With the group reunited, the night continued onwards. Yu brought them up to speed on what had been going on in his hometown, while the others each took a turn to regale him with the current happenings in Inaba, often joining in on each other's tales and collaborating on view points. They ate, they drank, they laughed, and it was for that moment that nothing was wrong with the world. They were the unsung saviours of the town, but they were, first and foremost, teenagers, and this night let them enjoy that identity to the fullest.

Yosuke bemoaned the expense of the tuxedoes, though only a bit, having come to realise that the night was worth a little bit of money. Yukiko forgave Teddie for his indiscretion, though only temporarily, as he would make several more attempts over the course of the formal. Rise made a very particular point of staying right by Yosuke's side for most of the night, politely declining several invitations by other students to come and dance with them, which did not go unnoticed by the group but did, gracefully, go unmentioned. Kanji and Naoto, it seemed, had found a silver lining in each other's company that night. They were each others' defense against any unwanted attention from the school at large, and seemed quite comfortable with it, though still quite uncomfortable in their attire.

Yu and Chie sat at the edge of the group, watching the interactions between their friends. Chie was resting her head on Yu's shoulder and his arm was still around her. They sat like this for some time, both involved with and yet removed from the conversations going on around them. After a while, just after a wailing Teddie streaked past them, an incensed Yukiko and Rise hot on his tail, Yu turned to Chie.

"Right then. Time to go?"

Chie paused for a moment.

"Umm..." she began, and stopped to look out at the room.

"Actually... I'm really having fun tonight. I'm still not sure about this dress... b-but I guess it's not so bad..."

She seemed to make up her mind then, turning back to him, wearing the smile that melted his heart every time.

"One more dance." she said.

Yu nodded, smiling.

That sounded alright to him.

That sounded just fine.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And there it is. I won't say much more here. I flew by the seat of my pants more than once in this story. I hope I did everyone and everything justice, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it, because I know I had a blast writing it. Thanks so much for getting this far, you are always appreciated.

**Edit:** Some reviewers brought to my attention that the narrative was hard to follow when it switched perspectives. Confused, since I was sure I had left some markers to separate those narratives, I went back to the story and noted that when I uploaded it, FanFiction's document manager had removed my markers, much to my embarrassment. I apologize for that, and for not double checking my draft before I submitted it. I've gone back and made the corrections, so with any luck it will be a little easier to follow the flow of the story.

Until next time...


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